Music is a mystery for people who play it, write it, listen to it, and write about it. The only thing I can really do when I try to say something about music is assume.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The times, they are a-changing.

I like to be punctual. I would say that it is one of my greatest assets. Everyone who knows me knows that I am always on time. One reason is that I always wear a watch, except when a band breaks or when a pin pops out.

Today's adventures in time and space involved finding a new band (or even a band part--one of the toilet-paper-holder-like pins that holds the band in place) for my nice easy-to-read Indiglo Timex. The first jewelry store I tried didn't sell replacement watch bands, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought a utilitarian-looking leather band that came with its own "hardware." I noticed that many of the replacement bands in my size didn't have both of the pins that hold the band to the watch. I thought I had picked one with both pins intact, but I was wrong.

I returned that Wal-Mart watch band, tried another jewelry store (which was closed), tried CVS (they stopped selling watches around Christmas), and then tried Walgreens (they no longer sold watches either). I tried another Wal-Mart, and found a utilitarian (the same exact utilitarian) band (the only replacement watch band they sold) with both pins intact. I was excited to take it home, but I found that it wouldn't even fit on my watch (I did use the size chart by the display).

I took a scissors to a retired watch band (I keep all my old watches, including my Cinderella watch, shown above--it still works, but doesn't fit my grown-up wrist), rescued two pins, and was able to re-mount my old watch band.

What is happening to the world I once knew? Do people no longer wear watches? And are those that do expected to replace the whole watch when a band breaks or a pin gets lost?

6 comments:

I haven't worn a watch for years - I was always losing them anyway, more than not leaving them on some practice room piano.

But I had this experience recently looking for a new kitchen phone. All we wanted was a simple wall model - cordless not desired, because a power cord would have to run across the wall. The wall jack and mount is there, just waiting for a phone, but my trips to CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens haven't turned anything up yet that doesn't need to be plugged in. I'm sure I'll find one somewhere, but it's another disappearing animal...

I've had to replace many things lately: toilet flapper, back door knob, cordless phone, and am appalled at the wretched quality of available goods. This is the third toilet flapper in eight years, the third doorknob in ten years (have you ever had a locking door knob wear out?!!!), and I can't even recall how many phones we've had lately. They just quit working after two or three years.

We don't want to be part of the "throw-away" society, but feel forced into it by the shoddiness of today's products.

It took eight trips to the Home Building Supply store to acquire four keys that work for our new door knob/dead bolt combination. This really boggles my mind!

I haven't worn a watch in eons. I stopped when a colleague who refused to wear a watch continually looked over at my wrist to check the time during rehearsals and performances. It just drove me nuts! I now use my phone or my iPod Touch to check the time when necessary. Of course the phone has to be turned off during performances. (Even set on silent it'll start beeping at me if the battery is running low.)

Oh dear. It seems that the watch is going the way of the grandfather clock.

The idea of paying a monthly bill and having to rely on a signal from a radio tower for just being able to tell the time does bother me a bit. I also have a land line in my home (the kind that Michael is looking for--one with a cord that plugs into a wall). I drive a standard transmission car, and used to make all our bread from scratch.

Sheesh! What a luddite I am. Still, the idea of experiencing time in only digital terms makes me very sad. There's something comforting about looking at round face with numbers to tell me where in my day or night I happen to be.

I am active as a composer, a violist, a violinist, a recorder player, and as a teacher. I began my professional musical life as a flutist, and spent a lot of quality time as a baroque flutist, but I no longer have my baroque flute. Now my modern flute spends most of its time tucked away in a drawer, while my violin, viola, and my viola d'amore are often tucked under my chin.